Gene therapy, in general terms, includes the use of genetic material as a pharmaceutical agent that can be used to treat disease. An illustrative form of gene therapy may include using genetic material that encodes a functional, therapeutic gene to replace a mutated gene. Other forms may include directly correcting a mutation, or using genetic material that encodes a therapeutic protein drug (rather than a natural human gene) to provide treatment. In gene therapy, the genetic material that encodes a therapeutic protein may be packaged within a vector, which is used to get the genetic material inside cells within the body. Once inside, the genetic material may become expressed by the cell machinery, which may result in the production of a therapeutic protein.
Current methods of providing gene therapy may require isolating tissue within the body of a patient with an embolization balloon catheter, and flooding the tissue with a fluid at a high flow rate and a high volume to cause secretion past capillary walls and into the tissue. This method may cause the tissue to swell to a size that is larger than its normal size. The swelling of the tissue may allow for gene therapy ingredients to be successfully injected and absorbed into the tissue. However, this method does not currently use a device that is capable of successfully injecting a sufficient amount of fluid, monitoring the pressure of the tissue to detect pressure changes, and intelligently adjusting the fluid delivery based upon the pressure changes.